define plates in geology
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- plate tectonics. In geology, a theory that the Earth's lithosphere (crust and upper mantle) is divided into a number of large, plate-like sections that move as distinct masses. See Notes at fault, Gondwanaland, See more at tectonic boundary.
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- plate tectonics The theory that the surface of the earth is made of lithospheric plates, which have moved throughout geological time resulting in the present-day positions of the continents. The theory explains the locations of mountain building as well as earthquakes and volcanoes.
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What Is Plate Tectonics? From the deepest ocean trench to the tallest mountain, plate tectonics explains the features and movement of Earth's surface in the present and the past. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.
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plate tectonics 1. (used with a sing. verb) A theory that explains the global distribution of geological phenomena such as seismicity, volcanism, continental drift, and mountain building in terms of the formation, destruction, movement, and interaction of the earth's lithospheric plates. 2. (used with a sing. or pl.
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convergent plate boundary con·ver·gent plate boundary. A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density, they usually push up against each other to form a mountain chain.If they are of unequal density, one plate usually sinks (subducts) beneath the other.Also called collision zone.on·ver·gent plate boundary. A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density, they usually push up against each other to form a mountain chain.
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tectonic Geology. 1  pertaining to the structure of the earth's crust. 2  referring to the forces or conditions within the earth that cause movements of the crust. 3  designating the results of such movements: tectonic valleys.
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Translations for plate tectonics Plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The model builds on the concepts of continental drift, developed during the first few decades of the 20th century.
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What Is Plate Tectonics? Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer layer is called the lithosphere.
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Plate tectonics Definition: What is plate tectonics. The concept that describes and explains how the major features of the Earth form and/or deform. The essential processes of plate tectonics are 1)seafloor spreading and 2) subduction. These two processes operate on basic units called plates. Key surface features such as mountain ranges form in particular tectonic settings when these processes act on plates directly or indirectly. Plates exist as a consequence of the specific conditions of temperature and pressure, and materials found on Earth. Plates move around, and change in size and number over geologic time.
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convergent plate boundary con·ver·gent plate boundary. A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density, they usually push up against each other to form a mountain chain.If they are of unequal density, one plate usually sinks (subducts) beneath the other. Also called collision zone.See more at tectonic boundary.on·ver·gent plate boundary. A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density, they usually push up against each other to form a mountain chain.
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Plate Tectonics Plate Tectonics. Plate Tectonics is a geologic theory explaining the movements and forces in the Earth crust. It was developed during the mid 20th century, but the basic ideas were first put into words by the German geologist Alfred Wegener during the 1920s.
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What are plate boundaries? A plate boundary is where the tectonic plates meet.There are three kinds of boundaries:convergent,divergent,and transform boundaries.
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plate margin plate margin. A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. © A Dictionary of Earth Sciences 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. plate margin (plate boundary) The boundary of one of the plates that form the upper layer (the lithosphere) and together cover the surface of the Earth. Plate margins are characterized by a combination of tectonic and topographic features: oceanic ridges, Benioff zones, young fold mountains, and transform faults.
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What are tectonic plates and how do they move? Tectonic plates are segments of the Earth's lithosphere, the hard rocky outer shell composed of the crust and the uppermost mantle. This shell is divided by lines of faults, ridges of plate creation, and zones of plate destruction. The plates are composed of crustal rock and solid upper mantle which is called the lithosphere. * 2  Plates are composed of continental and oceanic crust. 3  The oceanic crusts are continually moving, spreading from the center, sinking at the edges, in a process of recycling.
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plate tectonics noun, Geology. 1. a theory of global tectonics in which the lithosphere is divided into a number of crustal plates, each of which moves on the plastic asthenosphere more or less independently to collide with, slide under, or move past adjacent plates. Origin of plate tectonics Expand.
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Translations for plate tectonics plate tectonics(n.) A geological theory which holds that the crust of the earth (the lithosphere) is divided into a small number of large separate plates which float and move slowly around on the more plastic asthenosphere, breaking apart and moving away from each other at points where magma upwells from below, and, driven by such upwellings and ...
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Plate tectonics Definition: What is plate tectonics. The concept that describes and explains how the major features of the Earth form and/or deform. The essential processes of plate tectonics are 1)seafloor spreading and 2) subduction.These two processes operate on basic units called plates. Key surface features such as mountain ranges form in particular tectonic settings when these processes act on plates directly or indirectly.Plates exist as a consequence of the specific conditions of temperature and pressure, and materials found on Earth.efinition: What is plate tectonics. The concept that describes and explains how the major features of the Earth form and/or deform. The essential processes of plate tectonics are 1)seafloor spreading and 2) subduction.
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Pangaea Plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is a theory of geology which was developed to explain the observed evidence for large scale motions within the Earth's crust, such as the formation and breakup of Pangaea, leading to the current configuration of continents.
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Plate tectonics Plate tectonics is the geologic theory that Earth's crust is made up of rigid plates that float on the surface of the planet. The movement of the plates toward or away from each other either directly or indirectly creates the major geologic features at Earth's surface. Plate tectonics revolutionized the way geologists view Earth. Like the theory of evolution in biology, plate tectonics is the unifying concept of geology.
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How Crustal Plates Move: Plate Tectonics Plate tectonics is the unifying theory of geology. This theory explains how crustal plates move around the surface of the earth, and it allows geologists to find explanations for geologic events such as earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as the many other processes that form, transform, and destroy rocks.
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Plate tectonics Plate tectonics (from the Late Latin tectonicus, from the Greek: τεκτονικός pertaining to building) is a scientific theory describing the large-scale motion of Earth's lithosphere. The theoretical model builds on the concept of continental drift developed during the first few decades of the 20th century.
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Fault (geology) In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock mass movement.
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Plate Tectonics By Amanda Briney, Contributing Writer. Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that attempts to explain the movements of the Earth's lithosphere that have formed the landscape features we see across the globe today.By definition the word plate in geologic terms means a large slab of solid rock.ectonics is a part of the Greek root for to build and together the terms define how the Earth's surface is built up of moving plates. The theory of plate tectonics itself says that the Earth's lithosphere is made up individual plates that are broken down into over a dozen large and small pieces of solid rock.
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- Full Definition of PLATE TECTONICS. 1. : a theory in geology: the lithosphere of the earth is divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle and much of the earth's seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates.
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Plate tectonics Plate tectonics is a theory of geology developed to explain the phenomenon of continental drift, and is currently the theory accepted by the vast majority of scientists working in this area.